Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 9/15/16

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CURMUDGUCATION: Forest and Trees : Forest and Trees Like many jobs in the world, particularly those that deal with humans, teaching requires focus on both forests and trees. A teacher faces questions like these in the classroom: What body of information do I need to convey to my students in a deep and integrated manner that best fits their pedagogical requirements and will most help them take the

A Case of VAM-Based Chaos in Florida | VAMboozled! : A Case of VAM-Based Chaos in Florida Within a recent post , I wrote about my recent “silence” explaining that, apparently, post the passage of federal government’s (January 1, 2016) passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) that no longer requires teachers to be evaluated by their student’s tests score using VAMs (see prior posts on this

Dismantling Public Education: 1926 insight into 2016 corporate education reform programs and tests | Reclaim Reform : Dismantling Public Education: 1926 insight into 2016 corporate education reform programs and tests Teacher, historian and philosopher Will Durant cut through the ideological propaganda of his era and ours. We must do the same, or we and our children will suffer and die in well ind

When Allies Do What Enemies Cannot - Living in Dialogue : When Allies Do What Enemies Cannot By Anthony Cody. This week there has been another round of mean spirited divisiveness aired in the education movement, this time directed at Diane Ravitch. Diane posted a link to an article in Inside Philanthropy that described a corporate foundation that was donating to public schools instead of trying t

Webinar: Addressing Classroom Bias to Improve Learning | Schott Foundation for Public Education : Webinar: Addressing Classroom Bias to Improve Learning The school-to-prison pipeline has been prominent in the education debate for the past several years, and youth, parents, teachers, and communities across the country have put questions of school discipline, restorative justice and implicit bias a

Schools Matter: How Opt Out Could Remain Legitimate, But Won't : How Opt Out Could Remain Legitimate, But Won't The last national conference held by United Opt Out in February featured Green presidential candidate, Jill Stein, long-time radical educator, Bill Ayers, and radical intellectual, Chris Hedges. The line-up for the conference scheduled for next month in Houston is quite different. The O

Donald Trump Dances to His Billionaire Backers’ Tune on School Choice - The Daily Beast : Donald Trump Dances to His Billionaire Backers’ Tune on School Choice Donald Trump was never a major presence in the school-choice world—he didn’t give give to activist groups, or back New York’s growing charter-school movement. But over the last few months he’s begun loudly singing their praises, a major ch

Opt Out is DEAD | BustED Pencils : "Opt Out is DEAD" Opt Out is DEAD In its current form. Did I get your attention? Good. Because right now I feel like I back peddled five years ago to the time when several of us started an FB page to create opt out guides/resources for each state. At that time, we/opt outers were mocked, ignored, and ostracized. Lots of big wig activists and educationa

Ohio charter-school grant labeled ‘high risk’ : Ohio charter-school grant labeled ‘high risk’ The U.S. Department of Education is letting Ohio keep its $71 million grant to expand charter schools. But, it is designating the grant “high risk” and upping oversight to ensure there is no fraud. The Ohio Department of Education must, among other restrictions: Create a database that shows charter schoo

ABCs of Classrooms at Risk: DON’T just #OPTOUT – Missouri Education Watchdog : ABCs of Classrooms at Risk: DON’T just #OPTOUT What are we doing to our kids? Cancer doesn’t care if you are Democrat or Republican. The dollars invested in the edtech industry don’t care if your child is Democrat or Republican either. Why then do we let this broken two party system divide us when it comes to education

How Do We Rebuild Democratic Communities for Education? - Bridging Differences - Education Week : How Do We Rebuild Democratic Communities for Education? Dear Harry and friends, I'm fascinated by how differently we come at this topic which, I think, we are at heart in agreement. But, I'm trying to figure out our differences. As you know I love Public Achievement. It serves a very different purpos

Set Up to Fail – EduShyster : Set Up to Fail A former teacher says an acclaimed college-prep charter school in New Orleans is setting students up for failure… By Jake Guth There’s an old adage that if something seems too good to be true, then it likely is. Sci Academy, one of New Orleans’ top-rated charter schools, exemplifies that adage. As a success story/victim of New Orleans Public Schools, d

Connecticut educator’s open letter concerning Judge Moukawsher’s recent ruling - Wait What? : Connecticut educator’s open letter concerning Judge Moukawsher’s recent ruling Randall Smith is a social studies teacher and debate coach at Joel Barlow High School. The following is his open letter to Superior Court Judge Thomas Moukawsher in response to his recent ruling in the CCJEF V. Rell lawsuit; A

NY Times Muddles Education Debate | janresseger : NY Times Muddles Education Debate Last week, Connecticut Judge Thomas Moukawsher released a school funding decision in the case, Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Education Funding v. Rell. Judge Moukawsher found Connecticut school funding unconstitutional, but at the same time his decision was anything but clear. The Connecticut Supreme Court

Another Unrealistic Trump Policy Proposal: Homeschool Vouchers - ProPublica : Another Unrealistic Trump Policy Proposal: Homeschool Vouchers Trump recently proposed billions in spending to allow the nation’s poorest students to leave public schools and enroll elsewhere, including by using homeschooling. Except the plan won’t work for the poorest students. GOP nominee Donald Trump has said he plan

City Charter High School Has Locked Its Doors And Stranded Its Pupils – redqueeninla : City Charter High School Has Locked Its Doors And Stranded Its Pupils Why? Why Is This A Thing ? Why is the public afforded no right to follow its public monies behind the privacy hedge of unaccountable Charter Schools ? What’s it feel like to wake up one morning and discover your school has simply closed ? I’m

Ethics officials launch probe into Stand for Children : Ethics officials launch probe into Stand for Children Tennessee election finance officials have formally launched an investigation into allegations against Stand for Children and several Nashville school board candidates they supported during this year's general elections. The Tennessee Bureau of Ethics and Campaign Finance's registry board

Poll: To address teacher shortage, pay them more | EdSource : Poll: To address teacher shortage, pay them more As the state grapples with teacher shortages in several subject areas, the most important strategy to address shortages of teachers is to pay them more, according to a new PACE/USC Rossier online poll of registered voters in California. Respondents also pointed to hard-to-manage students

California Education is a Game of Chance :: Fox&Hounds : California Education is a Game of Chance Californians may think we have a system of public education. But what we really have is a state system for rationing public education. I got a personal taste of this in the spring, when I took my five-year-old son to our local school district offices to determine his educational future. This bein

Frustration. Burnout. Attrition. It's Time To Address The National Teacher Shortage : NPR Ed : NPR : Frustration. Burnout. Attrition. It's Time To Address The National Teacher Shortage The good news: There's an uptick in the hiring of new teachers since the pink-slip frenzy in the wake of the Great Recession. The bad news: The new hiring hasn't made up for the teacher shortfall. Attrition is high

According To The GAO, More Vouchers Mean More Problems | Americans United : According To The GAO, More Vouchers Mean More Problems This sectarian store-front private school in Washington, D.C., has received tax support through a federal voucher plan. This week, the U.S. Government Accountability Office, an independent agency that works for Congress and investigates how the federal government spen

New Study Tracks Spending On Common Core | WSKG : New Study Tracks Spending On Common Core Listen Listening... 4:59 The Common Core learning standards have been in place for a few years now. A lot of the news coverage in New York has been about Common Core-aligned tests. But tests are just one piece of the puzzle. A new national study looks at the money put towards implementation of the Common Co

YESTERDAY

Detroit civil rights lawsuit attempts to assert a constitutional right to literacy | US news | The Guardian : Detroit civil rights lawsuit attempts to assert a constitutional right to literacy First legal challenge of its kind in the US says